Church in path of 1998 tornado closes

Updated Jun 06, 2019; Posted Jun 06, 2019

McDonald Chapel United Methodist Church was damaged in 1998 when a major tornado swept through western Jefferson County, but it made repairs and moved on.
The church, founded in 1866, also had a historic cemetery dating to 1866, at the corner of Iceland Avenue and Vicksburg Street.
But the congregation dwindled to about a dozen and couldn’t afford upkeep on the building. (Photo by Greg Garrison/AL.com)

McDonald Chapel United Methodist Church was damaged in 1998 when a major tornado swept through western Jefferson County, but it made repairs and moved on.

The congregation, founded in 1866, held worship services in a 1960s-era classical brick building with four Greek columns, curved wrought-iron railing up the front stairs and a tall steeple topped by a metal cross. Across the street is a historic cemetery, also dating to 1866, at the corner of Iceland Avenue and Vicksburg Street.

“It has a very distinctive history,” said the Rev. Rick Cooper, pastor of nearby Open Door Church, which had its building demolished in the 1998 tornado and later rebuilt. Cooper said his ancestors were part of the founding group that started the Methodist church. “It was started after the Civil War by two Confederate soldiers who were saved at a camp meeting,” he said.

But the congregation dwindled to about a dozen in recent years and couldn’t afford upkeep on the building.

The church was officially closed on June 4 during the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. The last service of McDonald Chapel had been held Jan. 20.

Four tornadoes have hit the area since 1950, but 1998 did the most damage, said the Rev. Ray Whittaker, who was the last pastor of McDonald Chapel Methodist Church.

“Much of the roof was taken off,” Whittaker said. He is currently the pastor of Edgewater United Methodist Church, which the remaining members were encouraged to join.

The 1998 tornado damaged more than 20 churches, demolishing Open Door and Edgewater Methodist.

“Edgewater Methodist was destroyed completely and they built a new building,” Whittaker said.

The remaining members of McDonald Chapel United Methodist have moved over to Edgewater United Methodist Church. Edgewater has weekly attendance of about 35-40 people, Whittaker said.

“They are two great groups of people,” said the Rev. Rick Owen, superintendent of the Central District, speaking of the McDonald Chapel and Edgewater members.

The old McDonald Chapel United Methodist campus will be turned over to Crown of Life Ministry, on the condition that it maintains the 1866 cemetery, Whittaker said. “There are Confederate soldiers buried in that cemetery,” he said.

The Rev. Kelly Clem, superintendent for the Northwest District, announced that there were five United Methodist church closings in North Alabama this year, much less than the average of 10 a year that have closed over the past decade.

The Summit, formerly known as Muscle Shoals United Methodist Church, was also closed. “Their attendance just dwindled down and they weren’t able to maintain their building,” Clem said.

“That leaves us with no other church in Muscle Shoals,” she said.

The day care will be moved to First United Methodist Church of Sheffield, she said.

“With deaths come new seeds,” Clem said.

Another church that closed was Philadelphia United Methodist Church in Guin, Clem said.

That congregation did not like the direction of the denomination theologically, and decided to become independent, she said.

“They just decided they didn’t want to be United Methodist anymore,” she said.

Also closed were Edwardsville United Methodist Church and New Life United Methodist Church in Anniston.

That took the number of United Methodist congregations down to 671 in the North Alabama Conference at the start of 2019. Membership in the conference was down from 129,658 at the start of 2018 to 127,717 at the start of 2019.

Average weekly attendance at United Methodist churches across the North Alabama Conference dipped from 60,100 to 58,316.

The closing service of the McDonald Chapel United Methodist Church on Jan. 20 brought out a capacity crowd for the 160-seat sanctuary.

“We had people who had not been there in 20 or 30 years,” Whittaker said. “It was jam-packed.”